When it comes to baseball and music, the connection runs a lot deeper than walk-up songs and “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.”
Jose Iglesias is the latest in a long line of MLB players (and umpires) making their own musicBy JAY COHENAP Baseball WriterThe Associated Press
There is Bronson Arroyo, Barry Zito and Bernie Williams. Former stars like Ken Griffey Jr., Deion Sanders and Mike Piazza. Current ballplayers like Yoán Moncada, and prospects, too. Longtime executive Theo Epstein, along with retired umpire Joe West.
When it comes to baseball and music, the connection runs a lot deeper than walk-up songs and “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.”
The soundtrack of the New York Mets’ run to this year’s NL Championship Series includes Jose Iglesias’ “OMG,” adding another link between America’s pastime and the music of its biggest fans. The veteran infielder released his hit song in June.
There is a long history of baseball figures who made their own music. Here is a closer look at some of the biggest names:
Hitters with hits
Williams, 56, just might be baseball’s best musician ever. Williams, a four-time World Series champion with the New York Yankees, has a bachelor’s degree from the Manhattan School of Music. He performed with the New York Philharmonic in April.
“Even though there’s a lot of people who do baseball for the rest of their lives and they’re involved in the game one way or another, I think of those terms when I think of music,” Williams said in 2016. “There’s no ceiling, there’s no limit on how much you can learn and how many different directions you can take what you know, whether it’s teaching or performing or doing anything with music impacting lives.”
Griffey, a Hall of Famer and cultural icon, rapped on the “The Way I Swing” on Kid Sensation’s 1992 album, “The Power of Rhyme.” The song opens with Dave Niehaus’ call of Griffey’s first career homer for Seattle in his home debut on April 10, 1989.
Griffey, 54, and Piazza were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2016. Piazza, 56, is credited with performing “death growls” on Black Label Society’s barnburner “Stronger than Death.”
Dick Allen was one of baseball’s most feared sluggers in the 1960s and early ’70s. He also was the lead singer for The Ebonistics, a doo-wop group.
Long before he became the football coach at the University of Colorado, Sanders was a speedy outfielder for parts of nine seasons in the majors. He also released an album called “Prime Time” in the mid-1990s, featuring the classic tune, “Must Be the Money.”
Moncada, 29, is part of a current generation of ballplayers who have dabbled in music. Moncada released a Latin pop song in 2021, “Desastre Personal,” alongside Cuban reggaeton singer El Chacal and Cuban singer Lenier. Victor Scott II is a rapper and one of St. Louis’ top prospects.
Pitchers with pitch
Zito played for San Francisco and Oakland during his 15 years in the majors, winning the AL Cy Young Award in 2002. The left-hander also is quite the musician and songwriter.
Zito, 46, released a six-song country EP — “No Secrets — in 2017, and he has a studio in Nashville, Tennessee. Both of his parents worked with singer and jazz pianist Nat King Cole.
Zito and Arroyo both made their big league debut in 2000, and Adam Wainwright broke into the majors with St. Louis in 2005. Like Zito, Arroyo, 47, and Wainwright, 43, also have enjoyed their own music careers.
Arroyo has released two albums; “Covering the Bases” in 2005, and “Some Might Say” last year. Wainwright, who retired after last season, put out his first country album in April, entitled “Hey Y’all.”
It’s not just the players
Epstein is known for winning a total of three World Series titles as an executive with the Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs. But he also has played guitar on stage with good buddy and Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder.
West, who holds the major league umpire record with 5,460 regular-season games, is a country music singer and songwriter — leading to the nicknames “Cowboy Joe” and “Country Joe.” When he broke the umpiring record in Chicago in 2021, country music singer Emmylou Harris was on hand and The Oak Ridge Boys sung the national anthem before the game.
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AP Music Writer Maria Sherman contributed.
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